A new Gold Coast mikvah
A new mikvah is under construction within the nearly completed Gold Coast Jewish Communal Centre.
A feature of Jewish life in the 21st century is the increasing number of Chabad houses and mikvaot worldwide. Our generation is fortunate regarding the expansion of Chabad and its services to the broader Jewish world, as we are fortunate in that the demand for kosher mikvaot by those seeking to fulfil the halachic principles of family purity has increased exponentially.
Australia today is a far cry from the 1860s when the only mikvah was that in Melbourne. Today they are to be found in every Australian state. And now another is under construction within the nearly completed Gold Coast Jewish Communal Centre led by Rabbi Mosheh and Rebbetzin Bluma Serebryanski, who founded Chabad of the Gold Coast and Northern Rivers in 2003.
Construction of a kosher mikvah is a complex operation where attention to detail is crucial to its status. This is particularly so if the intention is that it be of the highest standard incorporating all the strictnesses of various customs in addition to halachic basics. As the concrete was to be poured on Tuesday, March 8, an unprecedented arrangement saw Rabbi Shlomo Kohn of Melbourne’s Adass Israel congregation fly to the Gold Coast specifically to inspect both the mikvah structure itself, as well as the roof of the building from which the rainwater essential to its kashrut will percolate downwards.
Others involved in the inspection were Rabbi Kohn’s assistant Rabbi Michoel Sabbagh, Rabbi Shmuel Lesches of Melbourne Yeshivah and Rabbi Levi Kahn from Paris, an expert on mikvaot in Europe currently on a private visit to Australia.
It is anticipated that the complex including the mikvah will open later this year.
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